Pneumatically-controlled friction driving mechanism for ironing-machines.



. F. BALZER PNEUMATICALLY CONTROLLED FRICTION nmvmc MECHA APPLICATIONFILED NOV I. I9I3- RENEWED 1,251,784.

NISM FOR IRONING MACHINES. NOV. 22,19l7.

Patented Jan. 1, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I- F. BALZER. v PNEUMATICALLY CONTROLLED FRICTION DRIVINGMECHANISM FOR IRONING MACHINES. Y APPLICATION FILED NOV. 1'. I913.nsuzwzo NOV- 22, Ian. 1,251,734 Patented Jan. 1,1918.

3 SHEETS-8EEET 2.

I I if "77? I M o I i .7

r, BALZER.

PNEUMATICALLY cemouso FRICTION omvme MECHANISM FOR momma MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOVA- 1. 1913- RENEWED NOV- 22. I917. I I

1,251,734. Patented Jafi,.'1,1918.

' v 3. v 0-, 6-9. 6- 333E153 SHEET WQJ? 1%???07 2" UNITED STATES PATENT;oriuon.

FRITZ BALZER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 'IO TROY LAUNDRY MACHINERYCOMPANY, LTD., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OFsNEW YORK.

PNEUMATICALLY-ooivrraonnnn FRICTION DRIVING MECHANISM FOR 'IRoNING-ivmcnnvns.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented Jami, 1918;.

Application filed November 1, 1913, Serial No. 798,764.. RenewedNovember 22, .1917. Serial No. 203,464.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRITZ BALZER, subject of the Emperor of Germany,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in. Pneumatically-Controlled Friction Driving Mechanism for Ironing-Machines, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates in general to pneumatically controlled machineryand more particularly to mechanism for controlling the operationof'ironing machines.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a friction drivingmechanism for cylinder ironing machines, and for other machines, inwhich the driven disk will be automatically moved out of contact withthe driving pinion prior to and during the adj ustment of thepinionradially with respect to the disk; and in which the disk will beautomatically moved out of contact with the pinion to discontinue theoperation of the machine should the operator be in danger of injury.

A further obj ectof my invention is to provide pneumatically actuatedmechanism for moving the driving and driven friction elements into andout of contact to start and stop theoperation of the machine and toinsure the disengagement of such elements prior to and during theirrelative radial adjustment in varying the speed of the driven element.

A further object of my invention is to provide pneumatically actuatedmechanism for automatically discontinuing the operation of a machineshould there arise danger of injury to the operator.

A still further object of my invention is to provide cylinder ironingmachines, and other machines, with power transmission mechanism whichwill be simple in construction, eflicient in operation, and. durable inuse.

My invention will be more fully disclosed hereinafter with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which the same is illustrated as embodiedin a convenient and practical form, and in which Figure 1 is an endelevational view of my invention applied to a cylinder ironing machine,only so much of the latter being lllus-z trated as is necessary. todisclose the connection, therewith of my invention;

Fig. 2 a. view similar to Fig.;1,'on an enlarged scale, showing myinvention'disconnected from the machine in connection with which it isused;

Fig. 3 a view similar to Fig. 2 looking from the left in Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 a sectional view on line 4:, 4, Figs. 2 andB;

Fig. 5 a vertical section, onan enlarged scale, through the center ofthe pneumatic cylinder, and vFig. 6 is a view taken on the line, 66 ofFig. 4 showing the cam employed for operating one of the valve levers.

Similar reference, characters are'used to designate similar parts in theseveral figures of the drawings.

Reference character A indicates one ofthe side supporting frames of acylinder ironing machine. B, B indicates steam heated cylinders, andreference characterC rollers which cooperate with the cylinder. B. Ddesignates the feed apron upon which the articles are placed and bywhich they are carried between the first roller C "and the cylinder B.Inasmuch as my invention is not restricted in its use'to a cylinderironing machine of the type partiallyi-llustrated in Fig. 1, it is notnecessary to a full understanding of my inventionthat such machineshould beillustrated, and described in detail. It will be.understoodthat my invention is not. restricted in itsuse to .ironingmachines of any particular construction, nor in fact to ironingmachines, but is capable of use inconnection with other mar chines.

F designates a pulley to which a driving belt, leading from any sourceof power, is adapted to beapplied. Grdesignatesa shaft, upon the outerend of which the belt pulley F is loosely mounted, and which is suitablyjournaled upon the frame of the machine, as by means of brackets G andGr supported by the side frame A of the machine. f designates a clutchfeathered upon the shaft G and adapted to be moved into and out of aFeathered: .up nt e shaft. ,G is a friction X is fixed, is provided witha crank arm L,

from the free endof which a weight Z de pends. A flexible connection Mextends from the free end of the crank L and passes over a guide rollerm to a sheave N fixed upon a sleeve n loosely supported upon a shaft 0.One end of the shaft 0 is journaled in a bracket 0 fixed to the sideframe A of the machine, while a bracket 0 is also supported on the frameof the machine through which the sleeve n rotatably extends, as clearlyshown in Fig. i. The end of the sleeve n, which projects beyond itsbearing in'the bracket 0, has fixed theretoa pointer N extendingadjacent the graduations on a semi-circular dial 0 supported by thebracket 0. The end of the shaft 0, which projects beyond the end of thesleeve 71, on which the pointer l is located, has fixed thereto a handleP provided with a lug 79 adapted to engage a lug n on the pointer N whenthe hand lever and shaft are rotated relatively to the pointer andsleeve connected therewith.

Q designates a shaft suitably journaled upon the machine for operatingthe same through the ,medium of suitable gearing which is not shown, asit is unessential to a complete disclosure of my invention. Featheredupon the end of the shaft Q is the hub s of a friction disk S. The hub sis provided with a circular groove 8, into which extend pins 6 carriedby the ends of a yoke 25 formed on a bell crank lever T, the latterbeing suitably fulcrumed upon a bracket T. The opposite end of the bellcrank lever T, from that on which the yoke t is formed, is pivotallyconnected to the end of a piston-rod T which extends through the head ofa cylinder U and is connected with a piston 25 mounted to reciprocate insuch cylinder. A spring t surrounds the portion of the piston-rod Twithin the cylinder and is interposed between the cylinder hea andpiston so as to exert a pressure tending to move the piston within thecylinder in a direction to oscillate the bell crank lever T.

The end of the cylinder U opposite to that through which the piston-rodT extends is provided with an inlet conduit u leading from a source offluid pressure. A partition U extends across the cylinder U intermediateof the supply conduit u and the piston 6 The partition is provided withan opening 14 in a plane extending longitudinally of the cylinder. Anaxially movable tube V extends through a suitable packing box a into thecylinder U and is provided with a collar '11, which overlies the seatformed around the opening u in the partition U. A spring 12 surroundsthe tube V and is interposed between the cylinder and collar 4) aroundthe tube, the tension of such spring serving to normally retain suchcollar in'contact with the seat around the opening in the partition soas to disconnect the supply conduit 20 from the piston 29. Areciprocating rod WV extends through a suitable packing box to in thecylinder U, and is provided with an end adapted to engage the open innerend of the tube V. A bell crank lever W is fulcrumed upon a bracket toon the exterior of the cylinder U, and is connected to the rod 7, in anysuitable manner, as by means of clamp nuts to between which the end ofthe bell crank lever isinterposed. A spring N is interposed between thebell crank lever and the cylinder, the tension of l which tends to sooscillate the bell crank lever as to force the rod inwardly and therebyforce the tube V outwardly so as to unseat the collar '0 and permitfluid pressure to pass through the partition U into 7 contact with thepiston 162.

A flexible connection W extends from the projection u on the bell cranklever over a guide pulley 'w to a link which is fulcrumed upon a bracket0 supported in a convenient manner, as for instance, from the bracket 0An eccentric O is fixed upon the end of the shaft 0, which projectsbeyond its bearing in the bracket 0 such cam engaging a lug 0 projectingfrom the link W which is fulcrumed upon the bracket 0* and at its freeend 0a :0 is connected to the flexible connection VV X designates asafety guard, which is mounted upon the machine adjacent the plane wherethe articles are fed between the ironing rollers, the position of thisguard being such that should the hands of the operator approach tooclose to the rolls the guard will be oscillated and thereby, throughsuitable connections, stop the operation of the machine and prevent thehands of the operator being drawn between the rolls. The mechanism whichis actuated by the safety guard X to discontinue the operation of themachine comprises the crank arm rock shaft Y and is united by a flexibleconnect-ion Y with the projection 10 on the bell crank lever V.

The manner of using and operation of my inventionare as follows: Themovable member of the clutch f is adjusted on the shaft G soas to engagethe member on the pulley 'F and thereby non-rotatably connect the-pulleywith the shaft, so that the shaft is rotated. The rotation of'the shaftG revolves the friction driving pinion H there,- on, which in turnrotates the friction disk S and with it the shaft Q. As the shaft Q isoperatively connected to the rotating parts of the machine, it isobviousthat the machine will be driven through the medium of the engagement ofthe friction pinion H with the friction disk SQ The frictional contactof the pinion with the disk is normally maintained by reason of thespring W oscillating the bell crank lever WV in audirection to moveinwardly the rod against the tube V and force the latter outwardly so asto open the passageway through the partition U for the flow of fluidpressure against the piston F. The piston t is consequently maintainedin its upward position with the spring 25 compressed, .so as toyieldingly retain the bell crank lever T in position to hold the diskSagainst the periphery of the pinion H.

lVhen it is desired to vary the speed at which the machine is operated,the hand lever P is oscillated toward the left in Fig. 3, whichoscillates the eccentric O thereon, so that the greater diameter of theeccentric engages the lug 0 on thelink and oscillates the latter towardthe right. Such oscillation of the link pulls upwardly on the fiexibleconnection V and oscillates the bell crank lever WV in a directiontocompress the spring and move outwardly the rod TV, so that its innerend is disengaged from the inner end of the tube V and the latter forcedby the spring u toward the left (see Fig. 5) until the collar 4: thereofseats against the adjacent seat formed around the opening in thepartition U. The fluid pressure conduit u is consequently disconnectedfrom the space in -the=cylinder between the partition and piston, whileat the same time the fluid pressure in such space exhausts through thetube V to the atmosphere. The tension of the spring 2& moves the piston25 within the cylinder U, thereby rocking the bell crank lever T in adirection to move the disk S away from the pinion H. A further movementof the lever P toward-the left in Fig. 3 causes the lug pthereon toengage the :lug n on the pointer N, thereby oscillating the sleeve n ina direction to wind the flexibleconnection M'on the sleeve n. -Suchmovement of the flexible -connection M oscillates the bell crank leverL, and moves the pinion H upon the shaft G radially with respect to thedisk S. The extent of radial movement of thepinion relatively to thediskis indicated by the movement of the pointer N relatively to thegraduations onthe dial 0. The pinion H is retained in its adjustedposition against the tendency of the weight Z to move the sameoutwardly, with respect to the center of the disk S, by means of aprojection on the pointer N which successively seats within, recesses inthe dial O'r' Inasmuch, however, as the pinion ;H, must never occupy aposition at the center of the disk S, there is no recess formed in thedial 0 at a point which would stop the movement of the pointer at such aposition that thepinion would be located inalinement with the center ofthe disk. 7 7 During the, oscillation of the pointerN to the properposition relatively to the dial, in order that the desired speed may betransmitted to the machine, the eccentric 0 holds the link in such aposition that the cylinder U is open to the atmosphere, and hence thedisk S is continued out of contact with the pinion H during theadjustment of the latter radially with respect to the disk. After theradial adjustment of the pinion to the desired position, the hand levenPis so oscillated as to present the shorter diameter of the eccentric '0to the link WV, which slackens the tension on the connection .W andpermits the spring l/V to oscillate the bell crank lever W and movetherod W toward the light from the position shown in Fig. 5, therebyopening the passageway from the fluid pressure supply conduit U into thecylinder, so that the piston is moved against the tension of the springt and the bell crank lever T oscillated in a direction to force the diskS against the periphery of the pinion H. V

Should the hand of an operator come in contact with the safety guard, itwill be oscillated and thereby oscillate the shaft, to which it is fixedand rock the arm 7w, upwardly so that va pull is exertedon theconnection X, which in turn oscillates the crank shaft Y so that a pullis exerted upon the connection Y leading from the crank 2 to the bellcrank lever WV. The bell crank lever is thereby oscillated against thetension of the spring W and the rodv W moved toward the left from theposition shown in Fig. 5v so that the pressure will be exhausted fromthe cylinderu and permit the spring 2? to move the piston in a directionto oscillate the bell crank lever 25 and move the disk S out of contactwith the driving pinion H. The operation of the machine is thereby atonce stopped and in-; jury to the operator avoided. \Vhen the. pressureupon the safety guard is discontinued the spring V at once actsvto-tmove the rod WV inwardly against the inner end of the tube V, therebycutting ofl the exhaust from the cylinder, and also moving such tubeaway from the seat in the partition U so as to permit fluid pressure topass into the cylinder and again move the piston t in a direction toengage the disk S with the driving pinion H.

From the foregoing description it will be observed that I have inventedan improved friction driving mechanism for cylinder ironing machines,and other machines, in which the driving and driven friction elementsare separated prior to the relative radial adjustment of the elements,and in which the engaged friction elements will be automaticallyseparated and the operation of the machine discontinued when furtheroperation of the machine would be likely to injure the operator. It willbe further observed that I have invented an improved power transmissionmechanism for cylinder ironing machines, and other machines, controlledby pneumatically actuated mechanism so that any exhaust of fluidpressure from the motor cylinder will immediately effect the separationof the cooperating driving and driven elements and discontinue theoperation of the machine.

I claim:

1. The combination with a machine comprising rotating parts, of frictionpower transmission mechanism comprising driving and driven elements,pneumatically actuated means for moving said elements into and out offrictional engagement, means for moving one of said elements radiallywith respect to the other, and interlocking mechanism for preventing theoperation of said latter means until after said first means haveoperated to separate said elements.

2. The combination with a machine comprising rotating parts, of frictionpower transmission mechanism comprising driving and driven elements,pneumatically controlled means for moving said elements into and out offrictional engagement, means for adjusting one of said elements radiallywith respect to the other, and means for effecting the operation of thepneumatically controlled means to disengage the elements prior to andduring the relative radial adjustment of said elements.

3. The combination with a machine com prising rotating parts, offriction power transmission mechanism comprismg driving and drivenelements, means for relatively radially moving said elements, means formoving said elements into and out of frictonal contact, and acooperating mechanism for requiring the actuation of said second meansto separate the elements prior to and during the actuation of said firstmeans.

4. The combination with a machine comprising rotating parts, of frictionpower transmission mechanism comprising driving and driven elements,fluid pressure operated mechanism for relatively moving said elementsinto and retaining them in frictional contact, means for separating saidelements upon the release of fluid pressure from said mechanism, meansfor moving one of said elements radially with respect to the other, andinterlocking mechanism for preventing the operation of said latter meansuntil said means have operated to separate said elements,

5. The combination with a machine comprising rotating parts, of frictionpower transmission mechanism comprising driving and driven elements,fluid pressure operated mechanism for relatively moving said elementsinto and retaining them in frictional contact, means for relativelyradially adj usting said elements, and a cooperating mechanism forreleasing fluid pressure from said mechanism prior to and during therelative radial movement ofthe elements.

6. The combination with a machine comprising rotating parts, of frictionpower transmission mechanism comprising driving and driven elements,means for relatively moving said elements into and out of engagement, acylinder, a piston therein operatively connected to said means, valvemechanism controlling the supply and exhaust of fluid pressure to andfrom said cylinder, means for relatively radially adjusting saidelements, and an operating device connected with said valve mechanismand with said last-named means for operating said valve mechanism toeffect the separation of said elements prior to and during the operationof said means.

7. The combination with a machine comprising rotating parts, of adriving shaft, a friction pinion axially movable on said shaft, a drivenshaft operatively connected with the rotating parts of the machine andextending at right-angles to the driving shaft, a friction disk axiallymovable on said driven shaft, a fluid pressure cylinder, a pistontherein operatively connected with said disk for retaining the same incontact with said pinion, means for automatically disengaging said diskfrom said pinion upon the release of fluid pressure from said cylinder,valve mechanism for controlling the supply and exhaust of fluid pressureto and from said cylinder, means for normally retaining said valvemechanism in position to supply fluid pressure to said cylinder, andmeans for operating said valve mechanism to exhaust-fluid pressure fromsaid cylinder.

8. The combination with a machine comprising rotating parts, of adriving shaft, a friction pinion axially movable on said shaft, adrivenv shaft operatively connected with the rotating parts of themachine and extending at right-angles to the driving shaft, a frictiondisk axially movable on said driven shaft, a fluid pressure cylinderhaving a piston therein operatively connected with said disk forretaining the same in contact with said pinion, means for automticallydisengaging said disk from said pinion upon the release of fluidpressure from said cylinder, valve mechanism for controlling the supplyand exhaust of fluid pressure to and from said cylinder, means fornormally retaining said valve mechanism in position to supply fluidpressure to said cylinder, means for moving said pinion axially on saiddriving shaft, and interlocking connections between said valve operatingmeans and said pinion adjusting means for eflecting the release of fluidpressure from said cylinder prior to and during the operation of saidpinion adjusting means.

9. The combination with a machine comprising rotating parts, ofpower-transmitting elements, means for relatively radially moving saidelements, means for moving said elements into and out of frictionalcontact, and cooperating mechanism for requiring the operation of saidsecond means to separate the elements prior to and during the actuationof said first means.

In testimony whereof, I have subscribed my name.

FRITZ BALZER.

WVitnesses GEO. L. WILKINSON, HENRY A. PARKS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

